Day Five

I broke off from that last entry quite abruptly because Caroline came in and we had a good chat, mostly about men (it’s actually terrible, how often that topic becomes common ground between women). Back to yesterday, before we get to today. I do feel I have spent half my time here writing about my time here. Every day has been so full that there is always more to jot down!


The hotel last night was so decent I even had a proper shower before dinner, which was, you guessed it, buffet style. Caroline and I went down early to find the ‘bar’ – a fridge with four bottles of wine, Coke, and a few beers. I siphoned lemonade, and talked to Sally, another of the older ladies on the trip, who I congratulated on her determination. I think she and Stephanie are the most inspiring people on this trip. I can only hope that I’m as tough as they are when I get to their years.


Dinner was spicy (by my standards), but I liked the aubergine. Caroline fell asleep at speed again, but I struggled to settle, which was not helped by the noise of an insistent clicking switch a few rooms away.


Our wakeup call today was supposed to be at 6:30, but for some reason we received it at 5:50, getting off lightly, as others received theirs at 4:20! There was another bizarre stray call at 7:05, which told me to ‘get up!’ in no uncertain terms, and hung up.


Today was the best day. Breakfast was the best breakfast we’ve had so far. I had a whole plate of miscellaneous Chinese food (seaweed is all very well, but not for breakfast, I conclude) and a bowl of wonton soup, with little shrimp and greenery and dumplings. It was the best thing I have ever tasted.


Time slipped away, and before eight we were on our way to the coach, and then off to the Cloisonné/ Jingtai Blue factory, where a valuable enamel pottery is made. It is so valuable that it is used as gifts for visiting dignitaries. The Queen owns two massive Cloisonné vases, which are probably similar to the ones I saw in the showroom – ¥4,800,000 a piece! (approx. £480,000)


I bought a thimble for Grandma, and a charm for myself with the animals of the Chinese zodiac. We are a funny family – a snake, a horse, a pig and a rabbit, and my grandmothers are an ox and a dog. What a bunch!


And then we walked, of course. Today we climbed the thousand steps and the Heavenly Ladder at Mutianyu. The first part was a bit of a slog, made only more demoralising by the sight of a snack and drinks stop, where we were told we had made it halfway, but with a bit of effort and a lot of sweat I made it to the top. Perhaps I am just getting used to it, but today actually seemed a bit easier. True, my legs were so tired that they complained at every step, but after surviving yesterday I was fairly sure I would be alright, and I was. The thousand steps were even, so it was really quite civilised, and I even saw a cat on the way up, which I took as a good omen.


The sky was much clearer today, so I got some good photos on the way up to the ladder (and it was up, all the way!). Once there I just went for it. In thirties, then twenties, then tens, fives and ones, I made the steep climb, all the way to the top. It was about four hundred steps, all in all, and at the top when Teri asked us to remember the reasons why we had come, I confess my eyes prickled.


Emma has been keeping a step count on her phone, and thinks that I’ve probably done about 100,000 steps this week, or will have tomorrow, considering that her count is already over 65,000, and she has missed some sizeable chunks on the cable cars. It’s crazy. I never thought I’d be the kind of person capable of this.


After a brief stop for recovery we went back down, and I was fine. Maybe it’s the heat, sending me into a daze. Maybe I’m just too tired to be afraid. At the bottom of the ladder we had lunch – a highly daring foray into the familiar territory of Subway. Mine had by this point long since disintegrated and been consumed to save my bag, but Pria decided that she wasn't hungry, so I had hers too. How awful!


There were options on the descent. Walk the thousand steps again, go by chairlift, or risk the toboggan run. I picked the latter, and I’m glad I did. I went all out on the accelerator in my little cart, and zipped along for almost a whole three minutes, which was quite far when you consider the speed one moves on a skateboard with a ‘go faster’ option. There were attendants on the various bends, all waving us through with laughter – it definitely trumps the enthusiasm of those working at Thorpe Park, I'm telling you.


I got a little carried away, and crashed into the person in front, but not as badly as poor Ronnie, who bruised her entire heel!


Mutianyu was extremely picturesque, and sitting in the Anglicised beer garden of ‘Farmer’s Pizza’/Subway, listening to the Bee Gees and Michael Jackson, I felt a surge of achievement. Only one day to go! I feel, to my great surprise, as though I could keep going.


This evening we checked in at the Juyongguan Great Wall Hotel, which from the outside looks like the grand house of an ancient Chinese warlord, but on the inside it is a tad shabby, and the bathmat is grim beyond the scope of words. Caroline plugged in her phone charger, and one of the lights winked out.


After showering we went out for dinner at the Jade Factory (I was extremely overdressed due to my lack of remaining clothes). The food was tasty, in fact I think the sweet and sour chicken was the best we've had all week, and once we had been suitably stuffed we were taken on a tour through the gallery. A Chinese lady who goes by ‘Anna’ to English visitors told us about the stone. It turns out there are more jades than green and white. It comes in numerous colours, from black to blue and red. Jade varies massively in quality and price, but in general it falls into two categories: hard and soft. Soft is used for colour pigment in expensive paintings, and hard is more desirable for jewellery.


The hardest type is jadeite, which is used in China for bangles. Girls often wear a jade bangle on their left wrist in the hope that this will keep them in good health. With regular wear, jade is liable to change shade, becoming more translucent, yellow, or darker, depending on your body temperature.


All in all, today was a good day, but now bed, on a mattress that seems to provide less support than the cushion of my own body fat. The pillow is full of beads – Teri says it is the Chinese equivalent of memory foam. Hmm...